American Barleywine AG - Water Into Barleywine
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Echoloc8
Acolyte of Fermentalism
Just tasted a 3-gal batch of this after 6 months aging in bottles at ~65 F. It's clarified a great deal, and is now wonderfully balanced between all those hops and the malty/syrupy sweetness. Complex, bitter, deep and satisfying.
Mine didn't come to the proper OG (goofed on not boiling all the way down to desired volume), but then it dried out more than expected, coming to around 10.5%, so it's got the appropriate kick, too.
Outstanding recipe. I was worried at first that I'd botched the dry hopping because the hops had sat out for some time and were starting to smell cheesy (my fault, had a Moment of Transcendent Stupid), but that problem character is gone entirely and the beer smells and tastes unbelievable.
Thanks to Brewpastor for an amazing recipe!
-Rich
Mine didn't come to the proper OG (goofed on not boiling all the way down to desired volume), but then it dried out more than expected, coming to around 10.5%, so it's got the appropriate kick, too.
Outstanding recipe. I was worried at first that I'd botched the dry hopping because the hops had sat out for some time and were starting to smell cheesy (my fault, had a Moment of Transcendent Stupid), but that problem character is gone entirely and the beer smells and tastes unbelievable.
Thanks to Brewpastor for an amazing recipe!
-Rich
I brewed this yesterday but needed some DME to get my OG up to the 1.100 range. It is fermenting like crazy this morning. My blowoff bottle was overflowing haha. I think I should have brought the temperature down a little from 70... Oh well!
I am considering brewing this in a few weeks. My system can't handle this amount of grain so I was thinking of brewing 2 or 2.5 gallons. Maybe even one gallon.
I'm curious to know how yours turned out.
RCBIV
Well-Known Member
Funny enough, I never got around to brewing it on at 2.5-gallon scale.
However, I am planning this to be my first batch on my much bigger system next weekend.
Echoloc8
Acolyte of Fermentalism
Down to my last six-pack or two of last year's batch, and it's aged wonderfully.
The maple character faded to nebulous complexity, sadly, but it's still a delightful barleywine. Will make again, possibly for 2014.
-Rich
The maple character faded to nebulous complexity, sadly, but it's still a delightful barleywine. Will make again, possibly for 2014.
-Rich
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Finally opened one up over Christmas, but it wasn't really carbonated yet and it also was really hot tasting... I had to add some DME to get the OG up, as my efficiency suffered from so much grain... It smelled amazing, but it just needs some time to mellow out, I hope...
DuffBeerMN
Member
I brewed this in last fall, and everything went well, just a bit low on my OG (1.084), but hit my FG and just opened a bottle. It tastes very bitter after ~5months, but when I let it warm up a bit I can definitely get that malty sweetness at the back end. Will that hop bitterness fade with time or was I bit too low on my OG? I am thinking of letting this sit for a few more months before I open another.
Echoloc8
Acolyte of Fermentalism
Well, it is 95 IBU per the recipe. :rockin: It won't be malt-forward.
Most of the barleywines I've tried do have a lot of hop bitterness to them, but it will fade/become more complex over time. So was this brewed in Fall 2012? If so, I'd definitely wait a few more months. My brew of this is about a year old, and is wonderful now, but was really hitting its stride in the six to eight month range.
-Rich
DuffBeerMN
Member
I didn't think it'd be that malt forward, but I was looking for a bit more complexity. Yes, it was brewed in Fall '12, so I was figuring it'd mellow out with more time, but was just looking for what typical length of time before big bitter beers mellow. I'll probably crack one open in the spring and see where it is. Thanks!
DuffBeerMN
Member
I went and got some real maple syrup for pretty cheap at Aldi. I wouldn't skimp with artificial stuff.
I'm brewing this right now! I scaled down to 2.5 gallons as my system can't support the amount of grain for 5 gallons. With mash and sparge I used 8 gallons water and collected 5. Shooting for a 75 minute boil to get it close to 2.5 gallons. Pre-boil sample is cooling and I'm curious about its gravity.
Well, my pre-boil sample came in at 1.042. I ended up with more volume at flame out than I expected even though I lengthened the boil to 95 minutes. The final volume was 3.25 gallons. My post-boil gravity kind of reflects this as it is 1.080. I think if I had boiled off that last .75 gallons I might have been closer to 1.100. Que sera, sera! RDWHAHB!
I'm going to be bottling up my batch this Saturday and a wild idea came to me. I keep my fermenter's in a water bath to help maintain fermentation temperature. I was thinking of adding enough ice to the water bath to drop the temperature down into the 40s over the next few days before I bottle. Would this improve anything? Would too much yeast drop out of suspension causing bottle carbonation issues? Anything I hadn't thought about?
Brewed this up yesterday. I collected 1gal too much wort for some reason even after a 90 minute boil. Ended up with 6gal at 1.092. I have a feeling my grain absorption rates need to be adjusted in beersmith. I've been overcollecting lately, but just not by this much.
Regardless, I'm satisfied with the result. 1 thing about this beer though- I made a stepped 3l starter and this thing absolutely exploded right off the bat. We're talking 'I needed to use a 5 gallon bucket just to control the blowoff' violent fermentation at <12 hours in.
Regardless, I'm satisfied with the result. 1 thing about this beer though- I made a stepped 3l starter and this thing absolutely exploded right off the bat. We're talking 'I needed to use a 5 gallon bucket just to control the blowoff' violent fermentation at <12 hours in.
Echoloc8
Acolyte of Fermentalism
Dynamite recipe. Not surprised the yeast are having a party.
I remember overcollecting this one too. These days I have a calibrated stick for my boil kettle so I can know ahead of time whether I need to boil longer. Made a huge difference for hitting my gravity targets.
-Rich
lordmorphous
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I just bought the ingredients for this and will be brewing as soon as I get the maple syrup...going to Aldi tomorrow. This will be the first beer I have dry hopped and from reading the thread understand that it is to be done in secondary for anywhere from 1-3 weeks. Should I add the hops during the last 2-3 weeks before bottling, or add the hops in the beginning of secondary and rack a third time to get the beer off the hops?
I brewed this 2 weeks ago yesterday, and checked gravity today- 1.012. I couldn't believe it attenuated that fast. I admit, this was the most violent fermentation I've ever had, but still! I checked it with 2 hydrometers just to make sure, haha.
Anyway, I dryhopped today, and took a sip of the sample. WOW. It is definitely alcoholic right now. A noticeable touch of maple... not bitter at all yet, but I believe a lot of it is masked in the alcoholic finish...
Question- What are peoples thoughts about doing secondary/aging in a keg? I don't want to tie up a carboy for extended lengths of time if I don't have to...
Anyway, I dryhopped today, and took a sip of the sample. WOW. It is definitely alcoholic right now. A noticeable touch of maple... not bitter at all yet, but I believe a lot of it is masked in the alcoholic finish...
Question- What are peoples thoughts about doing secondary/aging in a keg? I don't want to tie up a carboy for extended lengths of time if I don't have to...
lordmorphous
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Brewed this up last week and fly sparged for the first time. I don't think I have a good grasp on the whole fly sparging thing and ended up with 9.5 gallons in the boil kettle at 1.051. Boiled it for for almost 3 hours and ended up filling my carboy to the neck with 1.081 wort. I should have probably boiled another .5 to 1 gallon out of it since I had a 2L starter going for it. Fermentation kicked off within a couple hours and is just now starting to slow down. I plan on racking it to secondary in a couple more days. I'll let it go in secondary for a couple weeks, then dry hop for a couple weeks, then bottle and age. I'll report back when I've had a chance to try one. Thanks for the recipe.
LoloMT7
Well-Known Member
I got horrible efficiency when I brewed this also. It was still good beer a rye ale
Ok so I read through all the posts and from what I'm getting from all of this is something like this...... Primary 1 month or so..... secondary 3 months or so then tertiary to dry hop 2-3 weeks... Am I to assume at that point everyone is bottling then bottle conditioning for another few months upwards of a year from brewing the beer ? I have brewed many a beer but never a barleywine and I really don't know the carboy scheduling. For some reason I feel like it should be more like Primary 1 -1.5 weeks than secondary as it will still be putting off a co2 blanket thn age for 4 months then tertiary etc....... any advice on this my brewing knowledge somewhat is contradicting what I see happening and that may very well just be because I've never brewed a beer this big before. any advice is greatly appreciated !!!!
DuffBeerMN
Member
I've been sitting on this for almost 9 months now, and have tried a bottle conditioned one ever since month 6. It definitely needs to sit, the amount of hops and rye seems to really put some harsh bitterness/spiciness in the beer that seems to mellow over time. I've given some sips to a BMC crowd and they really liked it after 8 months and I anticipate it only getting better. I am going to let the rest sit until winter and see where it is then.
Drackean
Active Member
FWIW, over here it is common practice to boil maple syrup to 238F when it is used for cooking : it is said to reach it's full maple flavor at this point. That is what I done with mine before pouring it in my kettle at flame out.
The batch has been racked on a Nottingham cake at 1098 last week and is still bubbling by now. It has gotten fairly warm (70-72) at the peak of fermentation, despite the use of a swamp cooler.
Can't wait to see how it turns out.
The batch has been racked on a Nottingham cake at 1098 last week and is still bubbling by now. It has gotten fairly warm (70-72) at the peak of fermentation, despite the use of a swamp cooler.
Can't wait to see how it turns out.
DuffBeerMN
Member
After about a year and 2 months, its like someone flipped a switch on this brew. All the flavors and harshness has mellowed and blended into a nice rich and very flavorful barelywine. It seemingly took forever, but be patient with this one and stick with a long secondary/bottle condition and you'll be rewarded the longer this sits.
I brewed 2.5 gallons 1 year ago. I've been drinking 1 a month since last December. Its gotten really good and the last couple of bottles I could taste a slight hint of maple which wasn't there before. I still have about 10 left but will probably brew this again.
pdm1982
Well-Known Member
I brewed this on 10-26-14 (a little less than 2 weeks ago). I got very similar numbers to what Golfduke mentioned above. I made a 3 gallon batch and hit my target volume into the fermenter. My OG was 1.109. I took a sample today and it came out at 1.012. Mother of God. I think I got drunk from the one sip I took. Tasted like pure burn. Getting past the alcohol, it was quite bitter but it has a beautiful caramel color and slightly malty smell. I can only hope that the extra alcohol allows it to mellow to a more drinkable state.
